Chapter 32: Earth Style, Wall of the Great Nut and Giant Mushroom

The entity tried to bypass them, but the peculiar nuts were surprisingly quick, blocking its path no matter where it turned. Three big brothers stared at it with vacant expressions, effectively keeping it from breaking through their defense.

The Gatling Pea Shooter arrived on the scene as well. With a rapid-fire *bang-bang-bang*, it kept the entity pinned down, preventing it from advancing even an inch.

Bai Wan then pulled a red mushroom from his pocket—the Super Mushroom he had exchanged for using Mario coins the previous night. He stroked the Sunflower once more to summon another Wall-nut, then said with a somber gaze, "Formation... Four Symbols Sealing Technique!"

As soon as he spoke, the four Wall-nut brothers obeyed his command, each taking a corner to surround the entity, all staring at it with the same vacant, unblinking eyes. The entity, unsettled by these stares, leaped into the air.

But once in the air, it froze. Somehow, the young man who had been in the back had also jumped up, and he had grown massive. The human, once small, was now five or six times his original size, wearing a red cap.

Bai Wan looked down from above and stomped his foot downward.

"Gear Three..."
"Giant's Stamp!"

*Whoosh!*

The entity was dumbfounded as it watched the human's foot descend. How dare he? What was the point of growing larger? The entity reached out cruelly, intending to tear the human's leg off mid-air. But the moment its hand made contact with the sole of the shoe, it felt a force it could not resist.

*Boom!*

A look of disbelief crossed the entity's face. It was driven straight into the ground, flattened into a pancake. Even more absurdly, the entity remained squashed, curled up in a heap.

Everyone was stunned. Luo Ya looked at Bai Wan in utter shock. What kind of bizarre, nonsensical abilities were these? To stop an entity without even using a specialized item...

Was this guy named Liu Tong really a rookie? That seemed impossible; even veteran players might not be able to pull off such a feat. Even Su Yueling, who knew Bai Wan somewhat, looked at him with a blank expression. What was he trying to do? Was he going to solo this entity? Was this the power of the so-called "strongest rookie," the "Family"? It was ridiculously powerful.

Bai Wan shrank back to his normal size and walked over to Su Yueling's side.

"Are you alright?"

"I... I'm fine. Is the entity dead?" Su Yueling asked in astonishment.

"Of course not. Entities don't die; that's common knowledge, isn't it? It'll recover soon," Bai Wan replied.

"That's true..." Su Yueling knew that entities couldn't die, but Bai Wan had been so fierce that he had given her the illusion that, having used Gear Three, it wouldn't be strange if he had actually killed it.

Before Bai Wan could say more, the flattened entity restored its form, wearing a malicious expression as it began to devour the Wall-nuts, preparing to break out and consume everyone. Bai Wan frowned. So persistent? Being stomped on by the Super Mushroom only shrunk it for a moment; this entity was quite fierce even after Lin Yuan's death.

But it didn't matter. Fighting the entity was just a way to test his abilities. If he could resolve it directly, great; if not, that was fine too. In fact, upon seeing the second letter from the female entity, he had already guessed its killing rule.

Bai Wan suddenly turned to Su Yueling. "I have a hypothesis. Do you want to test it with me? Regarding this entity's killing rule..."

"What did you think of?" Su Yueling asked curiously.

Bai Wan explained, "Don't you find it strange? In the female entity's two letters, the word 'love' was emphasized a bit too much."

"I noticed that, too." Su Yueling nodded. The female entity had mentioned that love could dispel all unpleasant things in both letters. A normal person, no matter how much they longed for love, wouldn't mention it twice in such a jarring way. Would a normal person really speak like that?

"So, I think it's possible that this is the 'path of survival' provided by the game, which is why it was repeated twice," Bai Wan said.

"The path of survival is love?" Su Yueling had felt something was off, but she hadn't considered that.

"Yes. If the letter says love can dispel all unpleasant things, perhaps it can dispel the entity, too?" Bai Wan smiled.

Su Yueling thought for a moment. "It's possible... but is there any evidence?"

Bai Wan nodded. "Yes. Do you remember the entity opening our door to break in last night?" Su Yueling nodded; she was grateful to Bai Wan for hiding her in the sewers.

"The entity entered my room that night, too. I initially thought it had no killing rule and just killed everyone it saw. Since it's an unsolvable-level instance, I thought such high difficulty was reasonable." Bai Wan continued, "But after hearing Wang Jian's story during the day, I felt something was wrong. He said the entity disguised itself as his girlfriend to trick him into opening the door... That seems redundant, doesn't it? The entity could have just opened the door itself."

Su Yueling paused. He was right; she hadn't thought of that. Why would the entity disguise itself as his girlfriend?

Bai Wan summarized, "Excluding the possibility that Wang Jian lied—which wouldn't make much sense—the most likely scenario is that the entity couldn't enter his room and had to disguise itself. The entity treats Wang Jian differently than it treats us. The core difference is the key to this game, the entity's killing rule: love."

Su Yueling was stunned. "Because... they are a couple?"

Bai Wan nodded and smiled. "Notice that there are exactly six players this time, three men and three women... It’s likely an arrangement by the system. Lin Yuan and Xinran were both obsessed with love, so the entity wouldn't attack couples. That must be its killing rule."

Su Yueling's eyes lit up. She had to admit, though Bai Wan was a jerk, his brain was sharp.

"So, as long as we pretend to be a couple, the entity won't attack us," Bai Wan proposed.

Su Yueling hesitated. "Is faking a relationship okay? Won't the entity see through it?"

Bai Wan shook his head. "It'll be fine. Look at Wang Jian and Luo Ya; they're counted as a couple. The entity is easy to fool."

Su Yueling: "Um..."

By now, the entity was frantically devouring the Wall-nuts and was about to break through. Bai Wan looked into Su Yueling's eyes and said earnestly, "Yueling, I know this might be sudden, but I don't want to hide it anymore. I had feelings for you the first time we met, but I truly fell for you when the wind blew and your beautiful white hair covered your face. My dear, you might not know how sexy you looked then. Please allow me to give you an affectionate nickname: White-Haired Monster. So, will you be my girlfriend, Monster?"

Su Yueling: "..."